Egypt closes Rafah Gaza crossing indefinitely

Crossing had been opened to facilitate pilgrims traveling to Saudi Arabia for hajj; Haim Koren named Israel's ambassador to Egypt.

Rafah border crossing Sinai Gaza370.
(photo credit:Reuters)

Egypt closed the Rafah crossing into Gaza on Saturday after it allowed
Palestinians to return from the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

The
crossing had been open for a week and an Egyptian source told the German Press
Agency that the crossing would be closed indefinitely.

Meanwhile, the
Egyptian Interior Ministry confirmed that the man behind the attack on the
convoy of Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim in September was a former major in
the army. The Sinai-based Islamist group that took responsibility for the
attack, Ansar Bayt Al- Maqdis, released a video on Saturday identifying Maj.
(ret.) Waleed Badr as the suicide bomber.

Ibrahim was unharmed, but more
than 21 people were wounded, including one who died the next
day.

Ministry spokesman Abdel-Fatah Osman told a local TV station that
Badr had been dismissed from the army because of his “jihadist
orientation.”

Also on Saturday, Egyptian security forces continued
operations in Sinai and arrested dozens of suspects and confiscated weapons,
Egyptian officials told Ma’an News Agency. Raids took place in several villages
in and around El-Arish.

In other news, AFP reported that Israel named
Haim Koren as its new ambassador to Egypt.

Koren is currently nonresident
ambassador to South Sudan and previously served as the director of the Foreign
Ministry’s political planning division and on the Cairo embassy staff.